THE Broncos face a battle to retain Ben Te'o with the club's wealth of backrow talent leaving the hard-hitting utility open to big-money offers from rival NRL clubs.

Mindful of a poaching threat, the Broncos are eager to secure Te'o, who is a free agent for 2013, and operations chief Andrew Gee will begin preliminary contract talks with the Queensland Origin hopeful in the coming weeks.

But Brisbane's desire to re-sign Te'o could ironically be hampered by their all-star backrow as five players - Sam Thaiday, Corey Parker, Alex Glenn, Matt Gillett and Te'o - vie for three starting spots in the forward pack.

The club also has a high opinion of rookie forward Mitchell Frei, who can play front or backrow and is an accomplished goalkicker.

Newly-crowned Australian lock Parker and Thaiday, as Broncos captain, are certain starters. And with Glenn having won his maiden New Zealand jumper last year, dynamic duo Gillett and Te'o could be asked to play off the bench, or at worst be relegated to the Queensland Cup.

Te'o is the only member of the Fab Five yet to be signed to a long-term deal.

In the past year, Gee has presided over a shrewd retention drive, securing Parker (end of 2014), Glenn (2014) and Thaiday (2015) to upgraded deals, while Gillett's contract at Red Hill expires at the end of next season.

Since joining the Broncos in 2009, Te'o has been a popular, consistent servant capable of playing multiple roles, but the 25-year-old could be lured by the promise of a regular starting spot at a rival NRL club.

The Sunday Mail understands a number of clubs have expressed interest in Te'o, who was named 18th man for Queensland in 2010 after renouncing his ties to Samoa.

Broncos coach Anthony Griffin accepts Te'o will be a man in demand as the club also attempts to retain halfback Peter Wallace and boom outside back Gerard Beale.

"We're working through the process with Ben at the moment.

We'd love to keep him at the club and we've made that clear to him," Griffin said.

"We'd love to keep Ben at the club and we've made that clear"

"They all like to be starting players, I don't think anyone if you ask them would say they want to start off the bench.

"But the game has changed a lot, starting off the bench doesn't mean what it used to mean. It's a 17-man game.

"It's a professional game and everyone has got a budget and has to juggle their salary cap, but we're hopeful we can keep our off-contract guys and Ben is one of them."

Griffin admits he faces a major selection conundrum with Te'o and arguably the most competitive backrow in the NRL.

"It's not straightforward," he said.

"All those guys mentioned I have to fit into two or three spots, I just need to watch their form and see what happens.

"We've got some great quality in the backrow. Mitchell Frei can play in the backrow as well and Brendan Gibb and Nick Slyney were very good there in our first trial."

Veteran workhorse Parker said the fierce competition for forward spots meant there would be some hard-luck stories this season.

"There's a big battle going on with the forwards here, internally there are some opportunities here moving into round 1," he said.

"There certainly is a lot of competition. I'm not sure what the exact number count is but we have a heap of back-rowers and only 17 guys can take the field. One of the most driving things is the fear of failure.

"You don't want to let the Broncos jersey down. Some guys are going to miss out but that will make the club stronger, the competition for spots."

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